It will come as no shock Quique Sanchez Flores’ first objective is to keep Watford in the Premier League this season. However, the Hornets head coach believes the Golden Boys’ potential far exceeds that of a club continuously battling relegation.

It is a bold statement from the 50-year-old. After all this will only be Watford’s third campaign in the Premier League since its inception in 1992 and they have finished bottom of the table on the previous two occasions.

Two of last season’s promoted clubs made an immediate return to the Championship while only an incredible end of season surge up the table allowed Leicester City to escape the trap door.

Given their change of head coach - with Flores replacing Slavisa Jokanovic during the summer - the bookies have installed the Hornets as favourites to suffer relegation.

Flores acknowledges avoiding a bottom-three finish is the club’s primary aim this term but, should they achieve that feat, the Spaniard believes the Hornets can establish themselves amongst the elite.

He explained: “Next year is Watford’s first time in the Premier League after a lot of years away so the most important thing is to stay up. After that we want to build something solid.

“We want to build a little bit more, improve step by step and then you never know where you can go.”

He continued: “I see a lot of potential in the club. I think Watford are ready to improve as a club and is ready to help the manager improve. It has already helped a lot players improve too.

“So every member of this club can improve together and that is very important.”

Flores made comparisons between Watford and Spanish club Villarreal, who competed in the Champions League as recently as 2011.

“Villarreal in Spain were a little club,” he said. “But after years of building they became one of the biggest clubs in Spain.

“They have a great base, a great Academy and a great style of play. And they have also been in the Champions League.”

During his first interview with the media since being appointed Watford boss, Flores was affable and warm.

He came across extremely well and spoke passionately about creating a team who wanted to capture the supporters’ imagination.

The 50-year-old said: “At Atletico Madrid we played three finals but when I arrived Simao, Kun Aguero and (Diego) Forlan were saying ‘oh my god football is s**t. It is a disaster. The fans insult us every time’.

“I said ‘ok, let’s go to work. Let’s change the mentality and the atmosphere. It depends on us’.

“If we train every day with the spirit of transmitting something special to the fans then that is what you can do.

“And I want to transmit that here at Watford.”